SOUTH PASADENA >> The calendar said April 1978, but the scene said “Halloween” as neighborhood kids strolled the streets in costumes, crinkly autumn leaves tumbled down the street, and a murderous insane asylum escapee stalked impetuous baby sitters.

For 22 days, director John Carpenter directed a crew of about 30 through the time-crunching, penny-pinching production of the now-classic slasher flick “Halloween” along Mission and Oxley streets in South Pasadena. Featuring almost no top stars of its time and virtually no outsized production, “Halloween” was made for about $325,000, or roughly $1.1 million today.

“Today, you could make a movie for even less,” Carpenter said. “If you don’t make it in film, you can make it on a home video camera.”

And filmmakers have. Digital filming is replacing the costly process of transcribing movies from celluloid, and anyone with a camera in their pocket can shoot a movie and post it online. The budget for “Halloween,” inflated or not, looks generous compared to what modern horror fare has to spend.

“The fact that ‘Halloween’ made a lot of money brought out a lot of producers and directors,” Carpenter said. “Anything like that is an inspiration. You can make a film for very little these days.”

The 2009 horror hit “Paranormal Activity” is proof positive. The horror movie was made inside director Oren Peli’s San Diego home using a standard video camera and tripod for just $15,000. It grossed $107 million dollars in the U.S., making it the most profitable movie of all time. For several years, that honor belonged to “Halloween,” which was knocked off its perch in 1999 by “The Blair Witch Project.” That film made $249 million on a $60,000 budget.

“It doesn’t have much production value; it’s got small interior and exterior shots,” Carpenter said. “The way to make a low-budget movie is to plan everything out ahead of time. What we had was a basic cast and crew. There was nothing extra. Everything we did was put on the screen.”

Enticed by the quaint streets of South Pasadena, Carpenter decided it would be the prime backdrop for a terrifying night in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Ill., where The Shape, more commonly known as Michael Myers, stalked and terrorized baby sitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends while his doctor (Donald Pleasence) pursues him.

Carpenter couldn’t remember what the film permits cost, but in the end, it hardly mattered: The crew eventually started filming scenes outside of where the permit granted permission anyway, Carpenter said.

Though “Halloween” filming was more constrained by time than budget, Carpenter said, some corners had to be cut. Catering for the cast and crew of about 20 people consisted of ordering nearby McDonald’s. No amenities were provided. Myer’s now iconic mask was just a modified Captain Kirk mask. Trick-or-treaters in the background were neighborhood children.

“Everybody did everything. It was fun,” Carpenter said. “We just jumped in and started work. The picture you get is a bunch of young people getting together to make a movie.”

Pleasance’s role — carrying a $20,000 salary — was one of the most expensive aspects of the movie, Carpenter said. Curtis, then contracted by Universal and fairly unknown, played the film’s lead for $8,000.

“It put us on the map in terms of a real filming destination,” said Aguando.

By today’s standards, “Halloween” grossed $173 million at the U.S. box office. Its legacy has been kept alive through the decades by screenings on Oct. 31, like one taking place tonight at the South Pasadena library.

This year, the movie received a pristine Blu-ray conversion.

As has been the case with the “Paranormal Activity” franchise, the budget for subsequent “Halloween” movies once it proved itself to be a marketable brand, but Carpenter only directed the first one. Carpenter’s project was followed by sequels and even a remake. Rob Zombie’s 2007 “Halloween” was made for $15 million and grossed $58 million in the U.S.

“They spent a lot more on those then they did my film,” Carpenter said. “Whether you’re content with those movies or not is up to you.”